“I clearly cut too close to the bone” - Priti Patel accuses Manchester MP of ‘scaremongering’ over passport delays

The Home Secretary has accused a Manchester MP of ‘scaremongering’ after he mentioned passport delays in The Commons.

Priti Patel claims Afzal Khan ‘deliberately sought to mislead the public by misrepresenting the time it is taking to process passport applications’ in a letter, sent late last night.

“Your deliberate political actions will have unnecessarily worried hundreds of thousands of members of the British public who are currently making applications, in order for you to make a futile and cheap political attack against the government,” she writes.

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It comes after Mr Khan told the Commons that the Passport Office backlog is placing ‘additional pressure’ on families. He said some of his constituents have been waiting for up to 14 weeks for passports.

The government website currently advises that people may have to wait up to ten weeks to receive a passport.

During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, the Manchester Gorton MP said: “Two weeks ago the Prime Minister told the House: ‘To the best of my knowledge everybody is getting their passport within four to six weeks’, however the Passport Office is currently quoting a 10-week service time, with many of my constituents waiting well over that period.

“Cancelled summer trips could cost families over £1 billion. Does the Prime Minister accept that the Passport Office backlog is placing additional pressure on families already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis?”

Boris Johnson replied that ‘91% are getting their passport within six weeks’ and said the government is putting hundreds more staff into the Passport Office.

“The strength of demand by the way is a sign of the robustness of